MP Mpuuga: 10 Signatures Left to Recall Parliament

In shortMasaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga has said that they are left with 11 of the 125 signatures required to recall parliament from recess to discuss what they call the presidentâ€™s contempt of parliament.

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Masaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga has said that they are left with 11 of the 125 signatures required to recall parliament from recess to discuss what they call the president’s contempt of parliament.

The MPs who have been collecting signatures from their colleagues started the exercise on Christmas Eve when their colleagues were arrested over their statements regarding Butaleja woman MP Cerinah Nebanda’s death.

After the arrest of Kinkiizi East MP Dr Chris Baryomunsi and his Kampala Central counterpart Mohammed Nsereko over supposedly inciting violence during Nebanda’s burial, the legislators said that the executive was usurping the powers of parliament and attempting to curtail their freedom of expression.

They further demand that the president stops disrespecting MPs by using abusive language and that he should apologise for his bad language. The president while addressing a press conference on Christmas Eve at Nakasero State Lodge called the MPs who rubbished a government report on Nebanda’s death idiots.

Mpuuga told journalists that his colleagues from upcountry told him that they had 114 signatures and hoped to have collected 150 by the end of today and that they hope to submit the petition to the speaker by the end of this week. He wondered why NRM is intimidating and threatening its members not to sign the petition if it has not done anything wrong.

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Kampala woman MP Naggayi Nabilah Ssempala applauded women for being courageous enough to sign the petition amidst what she termed as calls and threats from the government not to sign it. She said she is happy that women are sensitive enough to know the pain of their fellow woman, Nebanda’s mother, who lost a child and is reportedly being harassed by government not to express her pain.

She said more women are telling her that they are coming from their villages where they had gone for Christmas to come and sign the petition and that they are demanding that the president appreciates the pain of their fellow woman.

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Article 95 of the 1995 constitution stipulates that at least one third of all Members of Parliament may in writing signed by them request a meeting of parliament from recess and the speaker has 21 days with in which to respond to the request.

Rule 20 of the parliamentary rules of procedure also allows MPs to request the speaker by way of petition to recall parliament from recess if there is an urgent matter to be considered.

If the members are successful, this will be the second time the ninth parliament is being recalled from recess. In October 2011, the House was recalled from recess to discuss matters regarding the oil and gas sector. The debate came at a time when Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and ministers Sam Kutesa and Hilary Onek were accused of taking bribes from Tullow, one of the oil companies in the country.